wind brushes up against me. The girl’s eyes suddenly roll into the back of her head, and she goes falling back. With a cry of alarm, I try to catch her, but the other wolves are already there, helping her weight to settle onto the ground. I spin around in a circle, seeing that all of the kids are sprawled out, some of them shaking, some of them looking like they aren’t even breathing.
“Tyran…” Panic jumps from my throat and curdles my stomach. I search for Tyran’s calm excitement in my soul, and I tug at it and wrap it all around me like it’s the coziest of blankets. He reaches out and takes my hand, squeezing hard.
“It’s alright. Watch.”
With anxiety banging against my heart like a snare drum, I watch as Healer Vorria comes into the circle and begins to check on the pups one by one. The rest of the wolves are still fully shifted other than Tyran and me, two or more of them waiting patiently beside the kids. Vorria continues to sing quietly, a soft hum not to compete with the wind of the spirits, but one that complements it.
There’s no violence, no pressure, no ritual with blood symbols marked on skin in the dead of night. It’s simple, comforting, right.
It takes a few minutes, but the boy that Tyran bit is the first to begin to shudder. With a painful grunt, fur sprouts along his limbs, and the protective wolf circle seems to close, watching with excited pride.
Before he’s finished, two more start to do the same, and then all of their bodies are shifting for the first time, the little girl included.
Tyran comes over, a huge grin on his face. “Every single one of them received a wolf spirit,” he says, looking so damn proud. A grin splits my face, my heart still pounding wildly. I look around and see the young wolves finish their first shifts, tails shaking, tongues lolling. They crouch and lick at the muzzles of the wolves all around them, paws dancing over the ground.
He was right. The spirits didn’t force these pups to grow up or push them to take on roles they might not be ready for. They wiggle with adolescence and juvenile excitement, and as shocking as it is to see, it’s also beautiful and incredibly humbling.
I watch the pack eagerly greeting the newest wolf members, and I wonder, what would life have been like if this is how I grew up?
Tyran sidles up to me, wrapping his strong arms around my waist and nuzzling my neck. “You ready to run, Vicious? Ready to show these wolves what yours can do?”
My eyes widen with surprise, and I turn in Tyran’s arms. “Me?” I ask, my eyes searching his for answers.
“You,” he answers with a sexy smile that makes me want to do all kinds of naughty things to him. An excited yip comes from one of the new wolves like they’re trying to hurry us along, and Tyran chuckles.
“Okay,” I say with nervous excitement.
With a grin, he backs away and starts to rip his clothes off to ready for the shift. I turn around and do the same, because ogling him in front of the new pups probably wouldn’t be the best idea. When I glance over my shoulder to see if he’s watching me, he shoots me a wink before effortlessly melting into his massive brown wolf.
I join him a second later, paws steady beneath me. For a split second, I worry that my wolf will freak out around all these strange wolves she hasn’t met yet and that I’ll have to fight her for control in front of the pups. But as soon as the worry crosses my mind, it’s eased just as quickly. Because the little girl wolf, all shiny brown fur, comes right over and licks my wolf on her neck. Instead of growling or getting territorial, my wolf’s lips pull back into some semblance of a playful grin.
Tyran’s wolf comes over and hip-checks us, and then with a howl, he darts away, leading the run. The new little ones bound after him with excited yips, while the older wolves move to encircle them, ensuring the pups are protected from every possible angle at all times. I join the protective circle and take up position on the left. We all span out so the little ones can get their legs under them with plenty of space to amble and frolic and race as